One More Grain

History

Born in Lancaster, England, Quinn attended the town's Royal Grammar School but left after taking his GCSEs (completing his A-levels at the local college). He went on to study Philosophy at university in London. After completing university, Quinn moved to Edinburgh. While there, he worked in the Scottish National Gallery and set up Suilven Recordings, an independent label which released ambient music. Quinn's time in Scotland lasted for around three years and culminated in the release of the record Ridin' the Stang, which was released to plaudits from a number of critics and was subsequently toured with a group of local musicians called The Rough Ensemble. Stewart Lee featured Quinn's track "The Burryman" on his Topography of Chance CD.

Ridin' the Stang did not meet with commercial success. This prompted Quinn's return to London, where he took up residence in a former pub - The Milton Arms - in the east of the city. He immediately set about recruiting musicians for a new musical project. His new recruits were Andrew Blick (a trumpeter, author and former session musician who'd also been half of the jazz/techno duo Blowpipe), a French stand-up bass player called DuDu Fremont and Israeli drummer Gal Moore. In the manner of the XX Teens (some of whom lived at the same address), the quartet began to rehearse in the old pub's cellar and quickly amassed enough material to record an album.

The band subsequently reached an agreement with Victory Garden Records (who also released early material by Hot Chip and Trencher) to release their album. This period also saw the departures of Fremont and Moore, and the arrival of their replacements Merek Cooper and Laurie Waller (on bass and drums respectively). Their record Pigeon English (featuring the original One More Grain lineup) was released in April, 2007 garnering a review in the Sunday Times (1/4/2007), which described the band as "Great English talent".

The band's second album, Isle of Grain, was released on White Heat Records on 28 January 2008. While predominantly featuring the current lineup of the band, some tracks came from earlier sessions featuring Fremont and Moore: Andrew Blick's father Robin Blick also guested on clarinet and tenor saxophone. A pre-release review in Plan B magazine left the reviewer wondering if they were, "actually some elaborate practical joke" despite featuring the band in the front of the issue, and the bassist Merek being a regular contributor to the periodical. The album also gained a Sunday Times Album of the Week feature and airplay including BBC Radio 1.

The band split in Summer 2008 following Quinn's announcement of his retirement from music. A posthumous 7" single featuring a One More Grain version of the traditional English song Scarborough Fair was released via Static Caravan in 2008.

All the members of One More Grain also participated in Andrew Blick's parallel project Gyratory System. This project continued following the breakup of One More Grain.

In May 2014 it was announced that Quinn had returned from a 5-year sabbatical in Indonesia, had moved to the Outer Hebrides and had resumed work with Doctor Blick towards a third One More Grain album entitled Grain Fever.

Group members

Albums

Singles